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A few nature pcs from the yard this afternoon....
Bananas!
Mushrooms!
Persian Shield!
Bananas!
Mushrooms!
Persian Shield!
The Old Folks Home
- Thread starter Wisher1000
- Start date
Thank you to all for the birthday wishes. I can fondly look back next year and say 39 & holding was a very good year 
A few nature pcs from the yard this afternoon....
Bananas!
Mushrooms!
Persian Shield!
Very nice
Thanks Scg. I love fresh warm bread also. I tried to teach my DD#3 how to make bread. lol She does time for anything. lol
Wisher your plants look beautiful!
Thank you to all for the birthday wishes. I can fondly look back next year and say 39 & holding was a very good year
I like to say that I am 39 with 24 years of experience.
I've been blessed with 'youthful' genes. When people ask me how old I am I usually tell them to guess. When they say 40 something, I just look thoughtful and say, "Okay, that's how old I am, I can live with that number".
Unfortunately, my aching back, painful knee and sore shoulder snap me back to reality.
Todays lesson is wax rendering.
I rinsed and then soaked my wax in water overnight to dissolve the honey and make it cleaner.
Melt over double boiler in pans you will never ever want to use again for anything other than rendering wax.
Once it is melted you'll want to filter it (I use cheesecloth) into your "mold." I probably should get a nice mold but for the time being takeout asian containers work great.
The stuff left behind you can scrape off the cheesecloth and use for a couple purposes. It is called slumgum and it's a great fire starter or you can use it to attract a swarm of bees to an empty hive or hive box.
The wax will slowly harden over about 24 hours and turn pale. Once it's been about 24 hours you can pop it out of the mold and rinse it in water to get any excess crud off it. It stores basically forever, like honey. I got about 1.4lbs of wax this year and about 0.4 lbs of wax last year. This years hive was much cleaner even though I harvested about the same amount of honey. You can see the previous years wax log in front with a nice patina on it.
Actually I think I got more wax last year but I made candles with most of it... I think. Last year was hard to remember.
I rinsed and then soaked my wax in water overnight to dissolve the honey and make it cleaner.
Melt over double boiler in pans you will never ever want to use again for anything other than rendering wax.
Once it is melted you'll want to filter it (I use cheesecloth) into your "mold." I probably should get a nice mold but for the time being takeout asian containers work great.
The stuff left behind you can scrape off the cheesecloth and use for a couple purposes. It is called slumgum and it's a great fire starter or you can use it to attract a swarm of bees to an empty hive or hive box.
The wax will slowly harden over about 24 hours and turn pale. Once it's been about 24 hours you can pop it out of the mold and rinse it in water to get any excess crud off it. It stores basically forever, like honey. I got about 1.4lbs of wax this year and about 0.4 lbs of wax last year. This years hive was much cleaner even though I harvested about the same amount of honey. You can see the previous years wax log in front with a nice patina on it.
Actually I think I got more wax last year but I made candles with most of it... I think. Last year was hard to remember.
There's plenty of things to do with wax. At some point this week I will find a good recipe for lip balm and make some once I find some small containers to put it in.
Today I tried my hand at furniture polish - wax and oil.
Melt together (I placed the ball jar directly in a shallow pan of boiling water) then let cool/harden. I started with 2 tbsp of wax to 8 tbsp oil (evoo). Using more or less oil gives you different consistency. I wanted easier to spread so used more oil. Using a clean rag, rub some of the mixture in to the wood. Let it sit up to 20 minutes, then buff off.
Solid state
Treadle cabinet top before treating today
Immediately after treating, with a 5 minute dwell time:
I only did the top of the cabinet. I will do the drawers when I have more time.
Today I tried my hand at furniture polish - wax and oil.
Melt together (I placed the ball jar directly in a shallow pan of boiling water) then let cool/harden. I started with 2 tbsp of wax to 8 tbsp oil (evoo). Using more or less oil gives you different consistency. I wanted easier to spread so used more oil. Using a clean rag, rub some of the mixture in to the wood. Let it sit up to 20 minutes, then buff off.
Solid state
Treadle cabinet top before treating today
Immediately after treating, with a 5 minute dwell time:
I only did the top of the cabinet. I will do the drawers when I have more time.
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Superchemicalgirl, I LOVE your treadle sewing machine. My mom had one way back when and they are the favorite of the Amish women around us. I can still hear the sound of that treadle moving when I watched my mom sewing on it as a little girl.
I've always heard that bees wax is the preferred material for good candles. They burn bright with little smoke and no smell. Is that true?
I've always heard that bees wax is the preferred material for good candles. They burn bright with little smoke and no smell. Is that true?
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